Temperature coefficient of resistance and thermal boundary conductance determination of ruthenium thin films by micro four-point probe

Abstract

Accurate characterization of the temperature coefficient of resistance (alpha TCR) of electrically conductive materials is pertinent for reducing self-heating in electronic devices. In-situ non-destructive measurements of alpha TCR using the micro four-point probe (M4PP) technique have previously been demonstrated on platinum (Pt) thin films deposited on fused silica, assuming the thermal conductivity of the substrate as known. In this study, we expand the M4PP method to obtain the alpha TCR on industrially relevant stacks, comprising ruthenium (Ru) thin films (3.3 nm and 5.2 nm thick) deposited on bulk silicon (Si), separated by a 90 nm SiO2 spacer. The new M4PP methodology allows simultaneous determination of both alpha TCR and the total thermal boundary conductance (G TBC) between the metallic film and its substrate. We measured the alpha TCR and the G TBC to be 542 +/- 18 ppm K-1 and 15.6 +/- 1.3 MW m-2K-1 for 3.3 nm Ru, and 982 +/- 46 ppm K-1 and 19.3 +/- 2.3 MW m-2K-1 for 5.2 nm Ru. This is in good agreement with independent measurements of alpha TCR. Our methodology demonstrates the potential of M4PP to characterize thermal properties of metallic thin films used in semiconductor technology.